Within White Ram's squad, one ninja saw the severe burns on Black Bull's chest where the explosive tag had detonated. He leapt down from his perch, intending to save him.
"Wait! Don't go near him! Be careful!"
White Ram had just shouted the warning—
when his subordinate's kunai sliced open Black Bull's throat.
Blood gushed out, splattering across Black Bull's chest in a dark red flood.
Chaos. Utter chaos.
Yagami roared, "Everyone fall back! Keep at least fifty meters between each other! Do not approach anyone!"
At their commander's order, everyone retreated.
In the rain-soaked night, only the drumming of rain could be heard — pattering on leaves, pooling in puddles, splashing into mud.
Five minutes passed. Nothing unusual.
Ten minutes. Still nothing.
Fifteen minutes later, Yagami cautiously approached Purple Cat, beginning to treat her wounds.
She didn't attack. It seemed Dan Kato had withdrawn his control.
Yagami spoke quietly as he dressed her injuries, making sure her mind was clear, then discussed tactics in a low voice.
Next time they encountered the enemy, they had to find a countermeasure — they couldn't stay so passive.
While traveling again, Yagami ordered everyone to keep twenty meters apart, far enough that a single explosive tag couldn't catch them all.
At the same time, he shifted direction — no longer heading southeast toward the Land of Fire, but moving further south.
He feared that Dan Kato might anticipate their escape route and lie in ambush ahead.
Two hours passed in silence. The forest wind calmed. Yagami exhaled slowly — maybe Dan Kato had finally grown tired of this game and let them go.
A jonin like Dan couldn't possibly waste time toying with them forever.
The squad stopped in a dense forest, finding shelter beneath massive trees to rest.
Yagami sat alone under one such tree, its canopy blocking most of the rain. The downpour outside softened to a steady drizzle.
He looked up at the oppressive black clouds above. If lightning struck now, he wondered, would it kill me?
Never stand under a tall tree during a thunderstorm — another useless bit of knowledge from his previous life surfaced in his mind.
A cave would've been safer, but impractical for the whole squad — what would they do, take turns hiding inside?
A flash of lightning tore through the clouds, followed by a rumbling peal of thunder.
Yagami stood, ready to order everyone to move again.
If necessary, they could detour south of the Land of Rain, cross through the Land of mist, and enter the Land of Fire that way.
Then — a second bolt of lightning blazed across the sky.
Yagami narrowed his eyes.
Something was wrong. Why did that flash last so long?
A figure hurled a flash bomb — straight toward White Ram!
"Damn it! Dan Kato again?!"
Yagami formed hand seals and vanished in a blur, reappearing in front of White Ram.
White Ram was their squad's sensory and scouting ninja. Losing him would be disastrous.
Without him, the unit wouldn't survive a single day in the perilous Land of Rain — not with Rain ninja, Stone ninja, rogue organizations, and even Madara Uchiha lurking about.
Flash and smoke bombs — classic tools to counter dōjutsu users.
Under that blinding light, White Ram likely couldn't even open his eyes.
Yagami appeared in front of him, kicking the controlled ANBU operative aside.
He still refused to kill. Monkey and Black Bull had already died — their deaths had achieved nothing.
But then — a hiss through the rain, a sudden rush of air from behind.
Damn!
Could even a Byakugan user like White Ram not resist Dan Kato's forbidden technique?
White Ram's taijutsu was far superior to that of his comrades — and far faster.
Prepared for a counter, Yagami sidestepped and turned in one motion — but White Ram still managed to strike him.
A sharp palm hit his left shoulder.
Instantly, Yagami's left arm went numb. He'd been struck on a tenketsu point — sealed by the Gentle Fist.
White Ram's flowing combo strikes came one after another, relentless.
His movements weren't as smooth as usual, but still carried seventy to eighty percent of his normal power.
Yagami realized it at once — Dan Kato must have studied the Hyuga deeply. After all, the Hyuga Clan had often been assigned as his bodyguards. Controlling one, he would know exactly how to exploit their techniques.
Using only his right arm, Yagami parried White Ram's flurry of blows.
"Purple Cat! Help me!" he shouted.
Not far away, Purple Cat quickly formed the seal for the Mind-Body Transfer Jutsu and directed it at White Ram.
At that moment, White Ram froze for a heartbeat — then shouted, "Captain! I'm free! Purple Cat's the one who's controlled!"
He suddenly lunged forward, positioning himself between Yagami and Purple Cat to block her supposed attack.
Hearing him claim to be free, Purple Cat's concentration wavered — her jutsu faltered for just a second.
White Ram seized that instant, swinging his kunai in a vicious arc toward Yagami's throat!
Yagami ducked and turned his head slightly, watching the blade draw closer —
Too fast.
He saw the razor edge slicing through falling raindrops, each drop bursting apart midair into fine mist.
In a reflexive surge, Yagami threw himself forward, crashing into White Ram's chest.
White Ram's kunai pierced into the back of Yagami's neck — the tip biting half a centimeter deep into flesh.
"Gh—!"
White Ram gasped. Yagami's own kunai had driven into his abdomen.
It had all happened in an instant — pure instinct, no thought.
Had White Ram been just a moment faster, Yagami's throat would've been cut clean through.
Yagami looked down. His kunai had pierced through White Ram's lung, the four-edged blade crushing ribs beneath it.
Dan Kato, in that final instant, had forced White Ram's body forward — turning a grave wound into a fatal one.
Coughing blood, White Ram still raised a trembling hand, pointing north.
"Captain… I sensed it… in that direction… Captain… I'm sorry…"
White Ram collapsed.
Inside a mountain cave twenty kilometers away, Dan Kato snapped awake, frowning. What a troublesome squad. He'd thought controlling one Byakugan user would be enough.
White Ram had been with Yagami for so long — second only to Purple Cat in importance to the team.
For Yagami, who had spent months executing mission after mission mechanically, the only comrades he truly knew were Purple Cat and White Ram.
White Ram, like most of the Hyuga Branch Family, had been gentle and kind.
He had never resolved the pain of the Caged Bird seal — and now he died here, by Yagami's own hand.
Ever since Yagami crossed into this world, detachment had been his nature.
To him, everyone here felt like strangers.
Every return to that "full-moon night" reminded him that nothing truly mattered.
People died — so what.
He killed — so what.
But this time, White Ram's death struck differently.
He couldn't take White Ram back to the past.
He couldn't save him.
Guilt surged within him, overwhelming.
Rainwater streamed into Yagami's eyes.
His vision burned — his eyes stung sharply.
A surge of chakra erupted from his brain, racing through his optic nerves, flooding his vision.
His eyes turned blood-red. The black pupils contracted — forming a single spinning tomoe.
The Sharingan had awakened.
That cursed bloodline — each tomoe born from the death of someone close.
For those with above-average talent, it took the death of a trusted companion — like Purple Cat or White Ram — to awaken it.
The truly gifted Uchiha? Their cat dying might be enough.
No wonder the clan loved cats so much — even had "Cat Granny" as a summoning beast. Their ancestors probably believed keeping a pet cat made awakening easier.
The less talented ones could kill half their family tree and still fail to awaken.
To be an enemy of the Uchiha was dangerous.
To be their friend was even worse.
White Ram, gasping, whispered by Yagami's ear:
"Captain… I sent a report to Captain Yellow Dog… During the Nine-Tails' Night, your chakra once showed… an anomaly…"
Yagami froze. Captain Yellow Dog… suspects me?
He looked down. Through the eyeholes of White Ram's mask, the Byakugan's pale pupils were fading, clouding over — like spoiled milk curdling and scattering apart.
Yagami rose to his feet.
White Ram was gone.
Now he had to protect Purple Cat — and everyone else who remained.
***
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